Telecom shares took a big hit today over fears that Britain’s forthcoming auction of 4G mobile-phone spectrum will cost more than expected after Holland’s sale of airwaves smashed forecasts. Vodafone, one of the successful bidders in Holland, was the second-worst faller on the FTSE 100, diving 4.5p or nearly 3% to 156.45p.

Megafon, the Russian telecoms giant controlled by Arsenal’s second biggest shareholder, Alisher Usmanov, confirmed plans today for a London stock market float that could value the business at $14 billion (£8.8 billion).

Sandra and Michael Howard helped Gyles Brandreth celebrate the launch of his sixth Oscar Wilde mystery, Murders at Reading Gaol, along with Lord Archer, Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley and Nicholas Parsons. Unbeknown to her fellow partygoers it is exactly half a century since Sandra, then a 22-year-old model, and her then husband Robin Douglas-Home dined at the White House with JFK during the Cuban missile crisis.